Wanna go to the World Series this weekend? Hope you can still make rent after these tickets.
If you didn’t get in on the public sale of tickets for the World Series that were offered by the Atlanta Braves early this week, then you — and apparently thousands of other fans — are going to have to brave the secondary market.
The Braves were in the World Series 5 times between 1991 and 1999, and at times fans in the Atlanta area were accused of being complacent and not nearly as “into” the games as those from other cities.
Those days are over. But you can still get tickets for tonight… if you have deep pockets.
With 22 years now since their last appearance, the law of supply and demand — fueled partly by a stadium that holds 10,000 fewer fans than Turner Field did — the ticket prices are soaring.
Let’s start with the numbers $79 and $72 per ticket… oh wait… that’s just for the privilege of parking in one of the stadium lots tonight and tomorrow!
Right anyway, that makes me want to find a 15-passenger van and then start renting out the extra seats in there for about 20 bucks a pop!
Getting into the Building
So that’s how much it takes to get you in the vicinity of the stadium… how much is required to get into Truist Park itself? Prepare to pay the second-highest average prices ever — behind only the 2016 Indians/Cubs series.
StubHub currently — subject to immediate change — has tickets for actual seats in the upper reaches of the right-field corner for $750 apiece.
If you’re able to stand or at least walk around for the entire ~4 hours of the festivities, then SRO tickets begin in the neighborhood of $840-875. These appear in various places around the park: above the outfield seats and between levels 200 and 300 from foul poles to the dugouts.
If you want actual seats with an actual ability to see the action, then we’re talking sections numbered under 243… and that really requires the big bucks.
Generally speaking, you can get into those sections — outfield and near the corners with 2 seats together for about $3000. One specific example observed (and probably no longer available) was section 238, Row 2, seats 7 and 8: $1499 apiece for those tix.
These seats are located about halfway between 3rd base and the left-field foul pole… in the third seating tier of five. It’s also under the roof, which might be a nicely practical feature, given tonight’s forecast.
Just going for it
Let’s say that you’re a really high-roller and that money is no object… you just want to be part of the experience tonight. I’ve got some seats for you.
Dugout Infield section 18. Row 9… 2 to 4 tickets available for $2602 each. These will put you directly behind the Braves dugout… and probably even within view of a camera or two.
So if you’re willing to fork over $5200 or more, you can definitely get some premium seats for yourself and your significant other/best bud.
None of this includes concessions or hotel, so if you’re coming in from out-of-town, figure dropping another $500 for that aspect of the proceedings as well.
Oh, and I neglected to mention the confiscatory fees (i.e., ‘add-on profit’) charged by these secondary market ticket brokers… that’s not insignificant, either.
Of course, there’s another direction you can go if you think that $6000+ for a single game is a bit beyond your comfort zone.
You could use these prices to justify that 75-inch big screen TV you’ve really been wanting all along. At $2600 or so, you could get a top-of-the-line unit today and get it installed in time for the game… and then you’d still have it for the game tomorrow… and Sunday… and for multiple years after that.
Believe me: 75 inches has the kind of resolution to let you see just how well-groomed each player is for the occasion… that doesn’t even compare with seats where you can hardly tell which of the Braves 5 outfielders are on the field at a given time (but every fan in the park knows when there’s a pitch that’s 2 inches outside the strike zone and called incorrectly).
Then again, with real seats you don’t have to put up with the banters of the broadcasters. I guess there are a few things in life that are still priceless.